(This is the tenth part in an ongoing series, in which I am writing brief reviews of each and every episode of Dan Harmon's beloved cult- comedy "Community." Originally conceived as a response to the initial cancellation of the series, the show has since been saved by Yahoo! via their streaming service. However, as I had already started my reviews before it was "un-canceled", I will continue them.)
Everyone has that one episode.
Their favorite episode.
The one that speaks to their sensibilities. The one that touches their heart. The one that they recall the most. The one that means everything to them and encompasses everything a TV-series can possibly be to them.
"Environmental Science" is that episode to me. It is my "one episode." My favorite episode.
I don't know exactly why or how. But this episode just has such a magnificent sense to me. It feels special and unique, even amongst the numerous special and unique episodes of "Community."
Jeff (Joel McHale) is asked by the study-group to reason with the increasingly frustrating demands of Spanish teacher Senor Chang (Ken Jeong), after a minor infraction by Annie (Alison Brie) causes Chang to assign everyone a 20-page essay as an insane form of punishment. Quickly learning that Chang is a troubled individual (particularly after his wife recently left him), Jeff kinda-sorta befriends him, and uses this "friendship" as a way to get out of doing work for the class. (Although unfortunately, this does not apply to the rest of the class, forcing Jeff to come up with excuses to explain to them why they still have to do all of the work.)
At the same time, Pierce (Chevy Chase) attempts to help Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) overcome her stage-fright so she can deliver a presentation for her marketing class. And Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) must find "Fievel", their escaped lab-rat from an experiment to try and make the animal respond to a specific song. (Which is of course "Somewhere Out There.") Trouble is, Troy's scared of mice and rats, and doesn't want to help Abed find him.
All of this leads to a climax, that while I won't spoil, I will describe as one of the most undeniably funny, sweet and beautiful scenes in the entire series. At least in my humble opinion.
Everything gels together perfectly in this episode. There are sequences of great character building in not only the lead study-group, but also in secondary characters, such as Senor Chang. Chang is one of those characters that's hard to make work sometimes. I feel that often, episodes either under or over-utilize him, and that sometimes the creative decisions surrounding him (given how over-the-top the character and performance by Jeong can be) aren't for the best. But here, Chang (and of course Jeong) are an absolute revelation. For such a cartoonish character, it's shocking how much this episode is able to humanize him.
The humor is absolutely wonderful. As in the previous episode, there's a perfect mixture of broad and specific jokes. Although I feel this is one of the broader episodes of the first season. But that is not a negative. Because the humor here is perfect. I hadn't laughed at an episode of television like I did with this in quite some time. Nor was I as touched by an episode of television in quite some time.
"Environmental Science" is without a doubt the episode of the series I personally feel is the strongest. It's hilarious. Heartfelt. And sheer perfection. So it definitely scores a 10 from me.
